For the first time since 2014, the interest paid on savings accounts has fallen below the official inflation rate, meaning many Australians with cash in the bank are now losing money in real terms.

According to figures from the Reserve Bank, the average interest rates paid by the banks on online savings accounts fell by 0.05 basis points to 1.25 per cent in December — below the annual inflation rate of 1.3 per cent.

The last time this happened was in June 2014, when inflation briefly spiked to 3 per cent.

The RBA left the official cash rate on hold at its historic low of 1.5 per cent in its last meeting of 2016 after two 25 basis point cuts in the year. The low interest-rate environment is good news for borrowers with mortgages or personal loans, but bad news for savers.

According to financial comparison website Canstar, there were 13 cuts to savings account interest rates in December and 16 cuts in November, compared with just three increases in the same two-month period.

ANZ and Westpac each cut rates on their online savings accounts by 0.2 basis points in December, although ANZ had temporarily raised its rate by 0.1 points in the previous month. NAB and CommBank each cut their rates by 0.1 basis points in November.

ANZ is currently offering a standard variable base rate of 1.25 per cent, Westpac is offering 1.05 per cent, while CommBank and NAB both offer 1.2 per cent.

Those rates exclude “bonus” interest earned as part of introductory offers or for meeting certain conditions, such as making no withdrawals for a set period.

Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker said the dismal returns for online savings accounts were due to increased liquidity requirements making those customers less attractive to the banks.

“The 30-day rule means banks have to provide for the ‘calls’ that can occur on their books in a 30-day period,” he said. “It means that for savings accounts ‘at call’ and any other at-call deposits on their balance sheet, they have to set aside coverage by way of cash and government bonds. Relatively speaking, they become quite expensive [for the banks].”

Mr Mickenbecker said the answer for savers was to look at what else was available. “There are better rates out there,” he said. “It pays to have a look at what else is available.

“You can get 3.05 per cent with Rabo, for example, although that includes some bonus elements. If it has five stars [from us] and has a good headline rate, it means the bonus conditions are pretty sensible because we factor the bonus into the overall rating.”

But even with the sorry state of savings accounts, Mr Mickenbecker warned against moving into high-risk assets such as gold or stocks.

“Everyone has a risk appetite,” he said. “If you’re retired and living off some of this stuff you can’t afford volatility. The best advice is to make sure you’re money’s working as hard as it can without taking that risk.

“That can mean moving part of what you can afford to lock up into term deposits, and part of it into higher-interest savings accounts.”